The Nephilim
by angelbladesister
Summary: Set in season 5 except that when Sam broke Lucifer out of his cage he said yes. Castiel stayed with the angels and is cut off from Dean. With the apocalypse happening both sides realise they need something powerful to win the war. It's a race, either the demons or the angels will find it first, an all powerful nephilim who is struggling with her powers, homeless in the streets
1. Chapter 1: What should never be found

**Chapter 1: What should never be found**

 _Castiel stood alone near the sea, looking out over the pitch black water with the moon light bouncing off the waves. As the gentle sea wind blew across the bay a look of trouble passed over his face, determination to succeed. He had to find it before they did._  
 _He could hardly get an image, it was hard to hold onto it for long. He just needed to concentrate harder._  
 _He caught glimpses at the most. It was a very powerful thing he was searching for, it hid itself from him without even knowing._

 _He caught a faint image of a flickering yellow lights._

 _Another of snowflakes contrasted over a dark sky_

 _And one more of a girl, the girl. Running for her life…_

The biting, cold night air blasted my face as I pounded down the street, my only guide was the flickering amber street lamps along the side of the road, flashing past me.  
I was running out of breath, my lungs aching and screaming for air. My burst of energy was quickly running out, escaping from them had taken all the strength I had left.  
Twice I had almost slipped on the icy pathways or mounds of snow that plagued the road but I kept running, kept sprinting past the identical suburban houses one after the other.  
Eventually, I thought, I would collapse and they would find me here surrounded by dirty snow and begging for my life, (not really my style) but you know being chased by crazed monsters can change a person.  
My limbs were on fire and my heart was pounding in my head but I couldn't stop, of course I couldn't, those _things_ could catch up any minute.  
I'd never seen anything like them before, marauding shadows that swum beneath those people's eyes, just below the surface. A Hideous, twisted darkness, perverting a poor person's face and taking over their body. Thinking about their dead, cold eyes only made me run faster. _Faster!_

How did I even get into this god awful mess?

Let's rewind and start from the beginning.

It all started with me stealing a diamond necklace.


	2. Chapter 2: You don't want me angry

**Chapter 2: You don't want me angry**

I hadn't had a good meal in weeks and it was just too tempting. I was waiting at the bus station just as night was falling, watching people rush back to their warm homes where their families were probably waiting to welcome them back. Lucky bastards, I thought.

No one ever noticed us, the homeless were known as the ghosts of the city, always invisible and unsettling, lurking in the corner of people's eyes and begging for the scraps that they were too "busy" to give.

Stuck in a world between life and death.

I pulled my oversized army jacket tighter around me and let my long black hair fall in my face for warmth as an icy wind blew in, my stomach growled for the hundredth time.

I watched a fat man take a bite into his burger, it smelt so good from here.

Dammit I hated this life, I know I could rule these sonsofbitches with a flick of my wrist.

An angry beast waked inside me, restless to prove itself.

No…

Don't think about that, you swore not to.

Keep it down, just focus on the here and now. On what you know is real.

I pushed any thought into the back of my mind, not now.

That's when I noticed a lady sit in front of me with a badly clasped diamond necklace hanging around her neck.

I could have stolen it easily without getting caught, I did it all the time, but… they were distracting me today. Ringing insesentaly in my head.

Usually they stayed silent, I made sure of that. But the voices, they wouldn't stay quiet today, always whispering, crying out.

So many different voices sharing one space, never actually talking to me but to each other. Like I was eves dropping on a radio station that never turned off.

They had been there since I was a child, speaking in the dark when I couldn't shut my mind off. If I didn't concentrate they came flooding in like a tidal wave, they certainty didn't have any regard for my sleep. I could push them down If I tried, blocking out that words that echo relentlessly through my head, but they plague my dreams. Talking of terrible things, impossible things…

 _The angels are fighting back but there are too many of them, we can't hold them off…_

 _The demons, they killed another of our soldiers yesterday…_

 _We have to find it, that thing could be our salvation, or our destruction…_

It scared me, was I going insane?

Believe it or not but the voices weren't even the weirdest thing about me.

I tried to ignore them as I quietly approached my target. My nimble fingers went to work.

I was gently sliding out the necklace from her neck when an ear-splitting ringing exploded in my head, a million voices echoing the same words, over and over and over again…

 _Find it! find it! before it's too late…_ the words seared through my head like lightning, getting louder and louder… _FIND IT…!_

I dropped to the ground clutching my head in agony, holding in my screams. The necklace was still in my hand.

A man yell in my direction, "Hey street rat, get your dirty hands off that".

I barely heard it, the world was turning upside down and swirling around me, I shook my head and the voices slowly faded into static.

The lady gasped and turned, grabbing my wrist before I could run.

I took a shaky breath in and looked up at her through tear filled eyes, watching her little face underneath the crappy makeup turn cold and sharp. "Don't you touch me!" she scowled "where are your parents' child!?".

Now I hated when people called me child, or kid, or little girl. I was almost 19. I think…

I hadn't had a birthday in years but I guess I felt that old, someone whose been what I've been through doesn't stay a child long anyway.

I mustered my strength and pushed my fear to the back of my mind. Putting on a mask of defiance I shrugged nonchalantly, staring straight into her eyes, "Dead".

She raised her painted eyebrows.

"Not that it's any of your business anyway, so if you don't mind I'll be on my way" I tried to pull away but her grip on my wrist turned to iron.

"Over here!" she yelled to an officer who stood smoking on the street over.

I didn't want to hurt her, but I knew I could so easily, I could get away so easily…

The officer's burly arms grabbed me from behind making me jump, he snatched the necklace out of my hand.

"Don't make this harder for yourself missy, you'll just get hurt" he grunted into my ear, his breath smelt like Tabaco and nachos. He dragged me away behind the bus stop, out of eye sight.

I struggled but he held on tighter, his hands moving from my waist up to… oh god, don't you dare touch me there you disgusting ape. Just because I was small and poor he thought he could do whatever he wanted, treat me however he wanted! Just a quick feel before I take her in, who would know, or care?

He was just like every other person in my life, I had let myself be tossed around, kicked and beaten all my life. Called a freak, by the foster carers, the other kids, the police, just about anyone I'd ever met.

They didn't know what I had the power to do, hell, even I had no idea what I could do if I actually tried.

I promised myself not to use my "skills" ever again, not to give in to the temptation.

I mean, I had used them before every once in a while in this miserable life, but I found that I couldn't control even the smallest use.

The last time it got bad was six years ago, a building had collapsed suspiciously, the reports stated that the only person on the premises was a local homeless kid, no one knew if she got out or not.

I didn't mean to destroy an entire building, I swear.

A brattish kid from a gang had found me sleeping there and decided to beat up the little, grubby girl with nothing but the faded army jacket on her back. I took each punch, but they fell like feathers on iron, nothing could hurt me, my skin was steel.

But my body still screamed at me to fight back. Fight back you wimp, don't just lie there!

Ok, I thought, I'll just give him a little fright, I'll only use my powers a little bit…

So yeah, the building collapsed, there were a few fires and I think the entire town had a blackout for the next three days. As for the kid, well he got out but let's just say his ribs cracked as easy as pencils and he wouldn't be using his limbs for a while.

For hours after I could feel everything, _see_ everything, I felt like I could fly, like I could become anyone I wanted, more than what I was.

Times like that I felt so alive… powerful, I knew it was wrong but how could feeling like this be wrong? I still don't even know how I was doing it; I don't even understand any of it.

It scared me out of my mind, thinking about what I was born with, a curse if ever there was one.

Every time I think of trying to gain power over these… these abilities, I turn back into the terrified child I once was, hiding and cowering.

I remember being afraid of the voices in my head and screaming for them to go away until my throat was raw, crying after I touched my carer's pet rabbit and it died right in front of me.

I remember when the kids threw bricks at me in the parking lot and I couldn't feel a thing, I could still hear their screeches, _freak! you're a freak, go back to hell demon_.

I remember feeling helpless because I was too scared of my powers to fight back.

And then I remember the feeling I have when I used them, the way it over powered anything else, my fear, my sadness. It just left pure, raw instinct.

Like a thousand drugs running through my blood, the feeling that I could win any fight…

Oh the things I could do to this officer, if I just tried, I felt the beast come alive and roar inside me, my mind running wild…

He started to drag me to his car. I could hear the lady jeering at me from the station. Of course this strange, ragged girl should go to jail. _Freak…_

If I could just show them, just once. Put them in their place.

I could control it now, not like last time, just _one_ more time and then never again. Just enough to surprise him so I can get away.

I could control it now…

(Of course later on I knew I was fooling myself, if anything, it controlled me)

A crowd of people had gathered to see the dirty hobo get the treatment she deserved from an officer of the law, their eyes watching expectantly.

I knew the risks, I knew what comes after but I did it anyway, I was so stupid.

"I wouldn't get me angry officer" I snapped

"Oh, and why is that sweetie" he grinned

"Cause you're the closest to the bomb, I'd start running"

Before he could respond I used the advantage of my smallness to slip out his arms by kicking backwards to his knees, he buckled and I turned to face him, my heart hammering.

I called it up, the beast got to its feet.

I felt it surging through me like a bright light coming from within, it burned every inch of my skin and flowed through my blood like wildfire. But I loved it. The pain made me feel alive. So alive!

Time slowed as I reached out. Touching him with the tips of my fingers. I _can_ control it I promised myself. Just the _smallest_ bit.

As soon as they made contact all the power I felt was suddenly flew through my finger tips and the man collapsed onto the ground. Knocked out cold.

The crowd was stunned silent.

This tiny girl with in ratty clothes had knocked out a massive cop with just a touch.

I realized it wasn't over though, dread poisoned my chest. My blood was still racing and coursing with power.

I knew I couldn't control it once I had let it out. How could I have been so foolish?

I felt it growing and rising, I tried to keep it in with every fibre of will I had left. I collapsed to my knees and wrapped my arms around my body in desperate attempt to hold it in.

The beast was fighting to get out of its cage. Growling and clawing and fighting until…

My flimsy hold on it shattered and I lost control completely.


	3. Chapter 3: Unearthly

**Chapter 3: Unearthly**

A bright, white light exploded out of me like a firework and covered everything in its path.

Every person around me collapsed onto the ground unconscious and the street lights burst in an explosion of glass and sparks.

Every car in the street grinded to a halt and the fire hydrants burst, water cascading onto the road.

The street looks as if the apocalypse had hit it.

Oh my god, did I do all of this?

I could see my skin glowing, a white light burning its way to the surface.

I got to my feet and stared at myself in the reflection of the bus stop, the carnage reflected behind me. I could barely recognize the girl starting back at me, with glowing wild, white eyes and luminescent skin. She looks all powerful, strong, beautiful. Everything I ever wanted to be, everything I wasn't.

I was suddenly struck out of my daze by screams and sirens come down the road.

I did the only rational thing and bolted. I didn't stop until I found the alleyway where I made my way through the backstreets and rubbish infested paths to pick up all my possessions before I left. And when I say possessions I don't mean my teddy, pillow and looking glass. More like a dirty rucksack that I hid behind a massive pile of crates.

I got there just as the sun was shining its last rays, casting long shadows along the walls. Like fingers, reaching and grasping, black eyes _watching._

I was still shaking; I couldn't keep my breaths steady. It still felt like my whole body was trying to explode. Oh god, why did I do that! Why?

My senses were on overload, I could see every hair on a rat that scuttled by and I could smell every ingredient in someone's cooking a street over, hear every word of the couple's fight in the apartment above me.

It scared me so much.

At least my skin had stopped glowing so I didn't look like a radioactive alien. The police would probably be looking for an insane girl who detonated a bomb in the middle of New York. I would have to move quick.

I grabbed my tattered green rucksack, not really comforted by the contents. An old blanket, a muesli bar I think expired in 2014 and my bone handled knife.

Throwing it over my shoulder I crept through the darkness, just like the alley cats hiding in the shadows. Alert, quiet, alone…

Truly ready to sleep at this point I collapsed on the most hidden bench in the park and curled up with a hole riddled blanket as my only source of warmth. It was hard to get to sleep because snow kept drifting through it onto my skin.

I was still trying to recover, the aftermath of the "accidents" usually involves a lot of sleeping.

My body still tingled like it was shocked with electricity and it ached for sleep. But I knew sleep would bring the voices back, they would haunt me all night. I was too terrified.

So instead I watched the last of the people walking around, they looked urethral, with the snow floating around in the golden aura of the park lights and falling softly to look like halos around their heads. It was almost calming, they looked like angels…

Angels. Maybe one was watching over me, keeping me safe from the great uncertainty that was my life, helping me with this burden. Maybe.

My eyes were finally closing and the hold on my mind slipped, the voices started to whisper and call.

Just before my eyes shut I glimpsed a figure, standing in the snow.

He was…glowing, softly. Wearing a dirty trench coat and look of curiosity on his face. He was staring directly at me, eyes like the bluest sky…


	4. Chapter 4: Black eyes watching

**Chapter 4: Black eyes watching**

The voices woke me up, _they found it, they found it, they found it, it's too late…_

I opened my eyes, same park, same terrible life. Great. And apparently the voices had found something, well good for them, I hope it was worth waking me up for.

There was weird smell in the air, like rotten eggs? Gross.

I also heard a noise like a bug zapper, the park lights were flickering on and off, all of them. Was it me doing that? I could usually feel when I did something like that. No, maybe it was just faulty lights.

I turned over, ready to try and sleep again when I suddenly heard a deep, gravelly voice in the back of my mind. One word as clear as day. _RUN_.

I bolted upright a spilt second before arms grabbed me and threw me to the ground.

At first I thought the cops had found me but then I looked up. And oh god I wish I didn't, they were hideous, masses of darkness and terror. All writhing beneath those people's faces, whose eyes had turned as black as ebony.

"Well she isn't much" one of them, a girl, breathed in my face "honestly I expected more". I tried to stumble to my feet but I was suddenly thrown through the air into a nearby tree with an immense force, invisible chains holding me there. I struggled and pulled but I couldn't move at all.

The girl walked over, reached out and stroked my cheek, her breath turned to mist in the cold air. I squirmed under the invisible force but the other one, a man, slapped me hard across the face.

"Please don't" she smiled sweetly "it's highly inconvenient for you to try and fight back, we don't want to hurt you unless we have to" she raised a hand to her chest "scouts honour" she promised.

She looked like a normal girl, you know except for the fact she had something hellish inside her. Long black hair and pale skin, dark brown eyes. She wore grey jeans, a black singlet, a stylish leather jacket and silver jewellery.

"Name's Ruby by the way, sorry we got off to a bad start but it's not like you would have come with is willingly, our real faces can be, well, intimidating" she played with a lock of my black hair.

"Now you on the other hand" she laughed "could be very pretty, just gotta' fix" she motioned to my whole body "this general area. Don't worry we'll have you cleaned up when we get back"

I had seen some strange things throughout my life, but a monster giving me fashion tips was a first. I was too stunned to think of what to do, what the holy hell was happening! What were these things, what did they want with me?

I swallowed my fear and croaked out "sooo, what do you guys want with me? just curious you know" I stayed dead still in fear of being hit again.

She chuckled "I forget you don't know anything yet, actually" she put a finger to her forehead thinking "probably shouldn't tell you anyways"

My mind was whirring, if I could just use my powers again, this time I truly didn't care if they got hurt if I lost control again. I think this world could use a few less monsters.

"Oh I wouldn't try doing that honey, you'd be a scorch mark before you could get it up" she sneered. My face must have look shocked because she laughed again.

"Oh yes, I can see inside that pretty head of yours, seriously messed up stuff in there I have to say"

My heart sunk, I realized I couldn't escape these things, I didn't know how I could. They were toying with me like a cat plays with a mouse.

"Believe me, it hurts me to see you sad little mouse, but god" she tipped her head back and screamed in glee "we found you before those fluffy winging dicks did, we can win!" she turned back to me and smiled. "I should be thanking you, we would never have found you in time if you hadn't gone full on hulk back at the bus station, magnificent by the way!"

Oh my god, I thought, how do they know about that, was this all connected?

"So, you basically sent out a bat signal to us, a sonic blast so powerful it broke your location protection" she put her hand on my shoulder "and now here we are, we finally found you"

 _They found it,_ I remember the voices saying that, was this about me? So many questions and no answers for miles, I felt helpless.

Ruby turned to the man, "ready to go, oh I'm so excited, he'll be so proud of me"

The guy pipped up "and me?"

She rolled her eyes "oh sure".

"Go where?" I asked.

They both turned back to me and she smiled "you're going to your new home to meet the master and don't worry" she pointed back to park bench "it's a better home than that at any rate".

Better a bench than living with you, I thought. I defiantly wasn't ready to be taken anywhere and one interrupts my sleep and gets away with it!

I realized that after the bus stop, my power flowed easily, as if it was just waiting for me to call on it, a storm just below my skin. I called it to the surface and it thundered to life.

They must have noticed my eyes starting to glow, but I was faster than them, stronger.

I broke free from their force and landed on my feet, punching Ruby in the gut I sent her flying. The man came at me and tackled me to the ground but I pushed him off me. In a rush I grabbed my bag and ran out of the park, and I didn't stop running.


	5. Chapter 5: A helping hand

**Chapter 5: A helping hand**

So here I was, quickly running out of air as the effects of my powers wore off.

I turned a corner, the snow stung my face as I ran.

Then I suddenly collided with a solid force and I fell to the cold ground.

"Oh goodness, are you ok, didn't see you there" a concerned older woman's voice came from above me. I looked up and was bloody relieved to see a normal, non demonic face. She held out a hand to help me up. I took it gratefully and she dragged me up.

I could see she was standing with another younger girl and they were both holding…were those guns? Maybe I shouldn't be relived so soon.

"Ah, thanks" I said nervously.

They could be here soon, I worried. I got ready to start running again when the younger girl asked with a light southern accent "Have you by any chance seen anything strange, weird smells, flickering lights?".

I stopped in my tracks.

"What do you mean, what do those mean, tell me?" I stressed.

A look of worry came over her face. "So I'm guessing you have, don't worry just go indoors and stay safe".

The older woman stared at the girl "maybe that's not an option for her Jo" she motioned to my clothes discreetly.

I was getting frustrated, "Just tell me you something about those black eyed _things_ " I pleaded. They both turned to me in surprise.

The younger girl, Jo, stepped forward through the snow, "You saw them, the demons?"

The woman broke in "where?"

I decided to tell them the truth, if they knew about those things, demons they said, then maybe they knew about how to help me.

"Um, I was just running from them in the park" I pointed in the direction I came from "they were trying to take me somewhere" I gave them an enquiring look, hopefully they had some answers.

They didn't talk, but they both shared a silent look of fear, as if I were a bomb about to go off (well they weren't wrong there).

"So that's it, the thing their all fighting for?" Jo whispered to the woman, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Quiet, the poor girl's been through enough, she doesn't need to know yet, we'll take her to bobby's, he'll know what to do" the woman turned back and grasped me by the shoulder as if I made of china and she was worried I might shatter at a second.

"Don't be alarmed but you in a lot of danger" she said kindly, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"Yeah I figured that already" I chimed.

She scanned the silent street, "you have to come with us" she took out her gun, "now, right now"

"Whoa, lady I don't have to do anything with you" I stepped back, ready to fight.

"Look" she sighed "it's either us or them and we can keep you safe, trust us, we're on your side dear".

I was just about to run when a massive black force barrelled in from the sky and slammed into me, dragging me back. The woman shouted after me but I couldn't see her through the thick smoke, it was choking me and dragging me away.

There was a sudden gunshot that barely missed my head, it echoed through the street. The smoke dissipated back into the night and I fell a few feet into snow.

"Well you bloody well have a good explanation for _that_!" I exclaimed shakily from the ground.

Jo, who had taken the shot, quickly put her gun back in her jean pocket and scrambled over to help me up. After I had brushed off some of the snow I looked back up at them and raised my hands.

"Now would be the time to explain" I exasperated.

"We will, we promise, but you have to come with us now, it's dangerous as you could most probably tell, they won't be gone for long" she said quickly "My name is Jo Harvelle and this is my mother Ellen, we fight these kind of things for a living and know how to kill em'"

I decided I probably would get answers if I came with them, and although I've never been the trusting type they seemed more trust worthy than black eyed monsters, although I could tell that weren't telling me something important.

"Ok, I'm coming" I picked up my bag that was left discarded on the side of the road and turned to face them, but they didn't move.

"Aren't we going?" I inquired.

The woman, Ellen, looked uncomfortable but asked carefully "isn't there anyone you want to say goodbye to, anything you need to get, you won't be able to come back here after we take you"

Yay, another reminder I have no one in my life.

"Nope" I replied "Just me and my trusty side kick the bag, can we go now?"

Ellen looked sad, "Don't worry, you'll have a room where were going to, and people who will have your back".

That was a comforting thought, I smiled back at her "well there's first times for everything"

With that they both started walking down the street at a fast pace, staying low and avoiding windows. We walked in the cold for a while until we came up to a parked black car.

The thing is, I knew I was never going to get a car but that doesn't mean I didn't admire them, and even in the moonlight I could see this car was a beauty. It was old, maybe 70's or 60's with a long, sleek body that looked like obsidian.

"I really hope this is your car" I said eagerly.

Jo laughed, "well it's borrowed, but don't let Dean hear you talk like that or he'll never stop talking about his bloody car" her smile disappeared as is she remember something sad "well used to anyway, not so much anymore".

"Who's Dean" I asked carefully, she seemed to be hurting, something to do with this Dean guy.

Ellen opened the door and spoke before Jo could "you'll meet him soon enough".

I slid into the back seat of the car and they got into the front, the engine revved to life vibrating under my seat. They took off down the road to god knows where.

Now we were out of harm's way I had time to actually look at me saviours. I'm surprized I didn't pick up the family resemblance before. Ellen was pretty for an older woman, with strong features and shoulder length, dirty blonde hair, while as Jo's features were lighter, small nose and almond eyes. She was very pretty with lightly curled honey blonde hair. They both had a taste for flannel though, each of them had at least 2 layers.

From just looking at them you would think they were both sweet and harmless but really, they could handle a gun like nothing else, there was also something in their eyes, a kind of sadness you can see in the eyes of soldiers who lost the war.

I cleared my throat "what were those things back there, what did they want with me?"

"Demons" Jo answered, she looked back at me just to see if I believed her or not, "from hell, nasty things they are, they possess people so you can never know who's a demon or not, you gotta be careful"

Wait, they couldn't see them, "what do you mean, you can't tell?" I asked nervously.

"Well they just look like ordinary people, you don't know who's got a demon inside them" she answered.

Ok great, just another weird thing about me.

"I can see them, clear as day, although I really wish I couldn't, they are very ugly"

They looked very worried, like their worst fears had come to life, "you see their true form?"

"yeah…" I confessed

They stayed silent for a while so all you could hear was the engine.

"We have to get their faster, she's more powerful than I imagined" I heard Jo whisper to Ellen, but I heard them, the after effects of using my powers meant I had really good hearing.

"Now that the demons found her they'll be telling everyone, hopefully she's powerful enough that she's hidden herself again" Ellen whispered back.

I couldn't hold it in, "how could I hide myself?"

Ellen looked guilty, "oh, you can hear…"

"There's a lot you need to know, we get that, but we need to get somewhere safe first, the we'll tell you everything" Jo assured me, "just try to get some sleep now, it's gonna be a while".

I suddenly realized how tired I was, my legs were aching and my eyes drooping. "Yeah that sounds like a wonderful idea…" I trailed off as I laid down on the back seat.

I thought back to the man at the park, how he seemed to glow, he was unearthly, strange. The way he looked at me, like he was trying to figure me out. He seemed so familiar.

I noticed that the voices were quiet for once as I slowly faded from consciousness into the soft darkness.


	6. Chapter 6: The end is nye!

**Chapter 6: The end is nye!**

Jo shakes me awake, and as I wake so does my internal radio.

 _Third garrison is almost down to one, need reinforcements…_

 _Ten demons were caught today; they are held for interrogation…_

 _It's hidden itself again, Castiel is still looking, he says he hasn't found it yet…_

I groan and mumble to Jo something about what happened the last time someone interrupted my sleep. "Rise and shine princess" she chuckled and helped me up.

I sit up groggily and stumble out of the car, my eyes adjusting to the midday sunlight.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting, maybe a big facility with guards and wire fences. Well this certainly wasn't that.

There were piles and piles of used cars stacked on top of each other in the front yard of a large, wooden house with peeling blue paint. I notice a rusty sign above me reading "Singer Auto Salvage"

It seemed pretty unfriendly, like who ever owned this place really really didn't want visitors.

Ellen must have already gone inside because I couldn't see her in the front of the car.

Jo noticed me looking, "Nah, she's gone in long ago, you've been asleep for a long time, none of us had the heart to wake you up".

"Oh yeah, I usually sleep a lot after…" I stopped before I said it, they didn't know yet I don't think.

"Yeah, I'd sleep a lot if I were attacked by demons" she picked up. We walked together towards the house.

I was suddenly very aware of my appearance. All my clothes, my army jacket and hole riddled jeans, were covered in dirt and my curly black hair hadn't been cut in years and was down to my waist, not to mention looking like a bird's nest.

I've been told I could be pretty if I just clean myself up. I had large, dark blue eyes and too many freckles to count, all over my nose and cheeks.

Probably the most noticeable thing about me was my size, I was almost an adult and I was still as short as a tween. God I hated it, how was I meant to look powerful if I was always having to look up at people?

I try to brush some of the mud caked on my boots before I went in, Jo noticed. "We'll get you some fresh clothes, don't worry". I hoped there wasn't too many people in there, the last thing i wanted was all the attention on me.

She creaks opens the door and the first thing I notice is a line of salt across the door way with a strange looking pentagram in front of it. My eyes adjust back to the darkness as we walk in.

The rest of the house looked normal enough, messy but homely. Piles of books lied everywhere from the floor to the tables and a strange assortment of pictures and artefacts hung along the wallpapered rooms.

It seemed like a great home, gee I wonder what it's like to have one of those?

I brush away my bitterness; it won't get me far.

Jo called out across the house "hey Bobby, come meet her".

"Oh ok, I'll just walk my way down these stairs, cause I have legs and all" a disgruntled voice yelled from the top of the house.

She rolled her eyes, "follow me then" she said.

She takes me into a library, it smells richly like old parchment and motor oil.

Just as I flop down on one of the couches I hear a series of crashes, then a man in a wheel chair wheels himself into the room. This must be Bobby then. He had a short beard and wore an old baseball cap. He looked like someone's distant uncle who lived out in the woods. Ellen followed after him.

"Well I'm glad you finally took the decency to wake up" he directed at me. I sunk further into the sofa, trying to hide my face in my hair.

"Hey, she's been through a lot" Jo defended me.

"We've all been through a lot, it's the freakin' apocalypse" he snapped. I laughed but then they looked at me with all seriousness.

"Wait…the apocalypse?" I flicked my hair out of my eyes and waited, they said nothing, shifting uncomfortably.

"WHAT, there's an apocalypse and no one knows!" I shouted and stood up from my seat.

Bobby wheeled into the centre of the room "ok, let's just calm down for a second will ya" I sat back down defeated.

"Now let's just start with your name ok?" he asked.

Umm… about that. Look, I never knew my parents, I was never named. As I was floating around foster homes they called me Mary, a name selected at random from a hat. I hated it. When I ran away and became homeless no one bothered to call me anything except 'you there'. I never really thought I about having a name, it seemed too permanent a thing for a girl who moved around so much.

I looked down embarrassedly and muttered shyly about not having one.

A line formed between his eyebrows as he considered my words. "Well we have to call ya something" Bobby wheeled over to a pile of books and opened one on ancient Jewish religion. I watched in curiosity as he picked a page and called out "Esta, we will call ya Esta cause it's a name apparently, I saw it on this page on Jewish somethin' or other" he looked up to see if I approved.

It felt weird, but it seemed to fit, "sure, why not?" I answered, slightly relieved to finally have a name.

"Ok Esta, you know all those freak storms in the mid-west, the fires, the floods?" he said.

I had heard about them on the news on the TVs at the shelter. "Yeah" I answered.

"Well that's just the tip of the apocalypse, a lot more is coming".

Oh great…

I sat forward "Ok, but why are you telling me? Actually on that note, why does this have anything to do with me!" anger boiled inside me "why do _demons_ want me and what is going on!" I shouted at the top of my voice.

"Well we've got a fire cracker on our hands then" Bobby retorted.

Ellen sighed "ok, we'll tell you everything if you promise not to leave this house"

"Ok" I answered hurriedly, just get to the point.

She bit her lip "well do you believe in god, Esta?"

I'd honestly never thought about god, and if he is there, there's a few things I'd like to say to him for dumping me with these stupid powers and a little orphan Annie backstory.

I have hoped angels were real though, looking out for me, but I wasn't going to tell them that.

"No, I don't believe in a higher power" I answered.

"Well I'd start to" Bobby said "God, Lucifer, Angels and Demons, all very real and they have come out to play"

I was barely registering this, I guess I knew there was some weird things in this world, but it was just hard to comprehend. I guess the bible-thumpers got it right?

"Oh, well isn't that splendid news, why doesn't the general population know? I'm sure they would defiantly want to know" I said quietly.

"Well the only reason we know is because we're Hunters" Ellen said.

"What like deer and bears?" I was getting confused.

"No like vampires and ghosts, we hunt the monsters you think are myths for a living, we study them and know how to kill em'"

Right… that sounds about right.

There was an awkward silence as I sat trying get my head around it.

"If it makes you feel better, Big Foot's a hoax!" Jo pipped up.

"Well that'll make me sleep well at night, I'll just be afraid of everything else that could kill me then" I retorted. "so if you know all about that supernatural stuff, then you know about demons, why are they trying to get me?"

"Well back to the biblical stuff, you know how Michael razed Lucifer into hell?" Bobby asked

"Kinda" I said.

"Well, demonic forces were trying to get him back out, they found a way to break his cage."

They all looked down at the ground, as if they were part of the whole thing, guilty.

"What happened?" I asked expectantly.

"It doesn't matter now, all you need to know is Lucifer has risen and he took his vessel, the Angels have called back to Michael to put him back, but it will be a lot harder than last time. The apocalypse is now, they have chosen earth as their battle ground and many people will die unless we stop it" he said sharply.

I felt my heart sinking like stone, this was dream wasn't it? Right?...I mean, knew the world had never been kind to me but I'm not sure I was ready to say goodbye to it.

"There is this one thing, a weapon that if either side got their hands on it, it will win them the war." Ellen looked melancholy, like this was the part she was trying to avoid telling me. "This thing is the most powerful being known in heaven or hell. Some may call it and abomination, other's they key to unimaginable power, they just have to find it."

 _Find it, find it, find it…_ the voices, they were talking about it. My thoughts were clicking together like a puzzle…

"This weapon, it's the offspring of a human and an Angel. No one knows the power it possesses, the Nephilim…

I knew the words before she said them.

"It's you"


	7. Chapter 7: Who's that girl in the mirror

**Chapter 7: Who's that girl in the mirror?**

It felt like my world was crashing around me, I know I wanted answers but now that I had them I wish I didn't. One of my parents was an _Angel_ , who? My mum, my dad? Why was I born like this?

More importantly why didn't I have wings, that would have been a perk.

But the apocalypse, it rested on _my_ shoulders?

"No, no, no" I shook my head in disbelief at them "you've got the wrong person, I'm not that important. I've never been important and I'm ok with that because it's better than this, Having the fate of the world rest on my shoulders! I shouldn't be trusted with that"

They looked at me sympathetically, "we don't choose how we're born Honey, only what we do afterwards" Ellen said softly "the demons want you to work for Lucifer, with you at his side he would be invincible, the Angels know this, so they've sent someone out to find you…and kill you, before you join Lucifer"

"Oh, trust me, I'm not going to join Lucifer, they don't have to worry about that" I said "But if what you say is true, I'm half angel. Why wouldn't they want me on their side instead of trying to kill me?"

"Because they're a bunch of feathered dicks that's why" Bobby scoffed "don't care about humanity, only about themselves and their bloody righteous plan, they won't take any chances. We used to trust one of them, biggest mistake we made"

"But I swear, I'm not gonna go dark side!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah we thought that too about someone close to us, and look where he is now" Bobby spat back angrily. They all looked as if someone had died. Maybe someone did.

"Look" he said a bit more calmly "they use your weaknesses against you, to turn you to their cause"

"Yeah, the last demon I met wasn't exactly encouraging, she mostly just laughed at me" I remembered.

"She? what did she look like?" he asked.

"Um, black hair, leather jacket, said her name was- "

"Ruby" Bobby finished.

"Yeah, how do you know her?" I ask

"That bitch cost us a life, if she's still breathing I'll make sure she isn't by the end of this" he fumed.

"We think we know how she found you, after no one else could, I mean, really the only reason we found you was because we picked up some signs of demons in the area, we were tracking them who must have been there for you" Jo said, changing the subject.

"Yeah I know how she found me, I got a bit carried away. My powers…" I looked down at my hands as if I expected them to start glowing again "I can't control them, I've tried but once they get let out it's like wild fire, I can't stop it. Apparently I was hiding myself from them, the Angels and the Demons, but when I used my powers it let off a beacon that the tracked me by… I was so stupid" I said.

"It's not your fault, you have the power of Angels in a human body, it's like trying to trap a hurricane in a butterfly net. I don't know how you held on to it for so long" She comforted.

"Do you know anything about my powers? how to block them out?" I asked hopefully.

"You're stuck with them, but at least now you can understand them" She answered.

"Well what are they, what can I do?" I said.

Bobby gestured to a cork board with extracts from books and texts in different languages with strange artworks and symbols. "This is all the information we've got on Nephilims, they are considered abominations, no offence" he said.

"None taken, I've been called worse" I replied.

"Well, angels outlawed reproducing with humans, but of course one of them broke the rule, there's no knowing which one. Point is there isn't a lot of information because there hasn't been one in centuries. As far as we can tell you have the same powers as angels do, just more unpredictable"

"What, playing harps?" I asked incredulously

"Think more like smiting, they can teleport, heal or kill with a touch, but nothing can kill them except an angel blade. They have heightened senses and I think they can communicate with each other through their minds" he gestured to his head while saying this "it's really weird".

The voices in my head, they're angels? This was all too much.

"Yeah, I can definitely hear them. they won't shut up" I assured.

"Another reason why Lucifer would want you, you got all the information about the other side" Bobby said.

"What are they saying right now?" Jo asked.

I concentrated.

 _Castiel is failing at his mission, he was meant to capture the Nephilim and kill her, he hasn't found her yet…_

"Well there a friendly bunch, they sound like army generals, talking about finding me and killing me…"

"Oh, that means that haven't found you yet, that's a good thing" Bobby concluded.

I sat there trying absorb all of this, I watched the dust float around in the sunlight coming in through the window.

I really was a freak then, probably the biggest freak in the universe. One half wanted me dead and the other want me to turn evil. I wasn't seeing many options here. I was the thing that could jump start the apocalypse? What a load of shit to put on my tiny shoulders.

They could see I was on the verge of breaking, I couldn't take any more.

"Why don't we talk more about this later, you're safe now, just keep out of sight and try not to… you know" Ellen said.

"Yeah" I mumbled.

"Why don't you go upstairs and get cleaned up, a shower maybe, I'll bring up some of Jo's old clothes that might fit you" she said kindly.

"Thank you" I smiled sadly.

"Come down for dinner in a bit, you can sleep on the sofa" she finished.

I stood and tried to avoid their eyes as I made my way to the stairs.

As soon as I got to the top I heard them start talking about in hurried tones, obviously about me.

I felt in a trance, a few hours ago I was sleeping on a bench, now I'm part of the biggest event in human history. I tried not to think about it.

I walked into the bathroom at the end of the hall. It was small with a floral shower curtain and spiders scuttling on the ceiling. There was a body length mirror in front of me and it pained me to look at my reflection.

I looked like a ghost, my eyes had bags like bruises underneath them and my small frame was even smaller than usual. Using my powers takes a lot of me.

I undressed and stepped into the shower, letting the steaming water run over me.

It felt so good, I washed all the dirt off my skin and untangled my hair for the first time in forever. I stayed in there for an hour because I couldn't bring myself to get out, it was so blissful.

After I noticed my skin starting to turn pruney, I regretfully got out and dried myself off.

I could see a neat pile of clothes had been placed next to my old ones.

I gratefully pulled them on, they were soft and clean and smelt like a fresh laundry.

I was happy enough until I looked in the mirror, all I could think was 'what the hell?'

I was gone and instead stood Esta, the new girl who had a roof over her head and real clothes. I look so different, for once I actually _liked_ my appearance.

With my hair combed and clean it was glossy and long, it fell down my back in a mass of black curls. I was wearing nice grey jeans, a navy singlet and a cute cream cardigan. I looked like a normal teenage girl. It was hilarious, I found myself laughing.

I looked back at my army jacket uneasily, I had worn it since I was little, it was still too big though, but it was one of the only things I could actually call mine. Picked it up and wore it over the cardigan, it didn't go with the outfit but I didn't care.

I felt like my own person for the first time.


	8. Chapter 8: Find me

**Chapter 8:** ** _find me_**

I back come down the stairs, dodging piles of books and clothes. As soon as Jo sees me she jumps. "Oh my god, I didn't recognise you, you look so…" she waved her hand around trying to find the word.

"Yeah, I had the same reaction too" I said.

"Well it suits you" she insisted. "Come, we made you a sandwich".

It was like an awkward family dinner. We sat around the table in the kitchen eating our ham and cheese sandwiches silently. Like none of us knew what to say.

Ellen finally broke the silence, "isn't Dean gonna-"

"No, he said he weren't hungry, again" Bobby broke in.

There was that Dean guy again.

"Is he here?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's usually in the garage though" Ellen answered solomly.

Everyone went silent again.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Is he a Hunter?".

"Used to be I guess, nowadays he just…" She trailed off.

I didn't push anymore.

Afterwards I helped clean up which felt weird. Never thought I'd be doing household chores.

Night fell and I prepared my bed on the sofa, with tons of pillows and blankets, making up for all the times I had none. I curled up under my makeshift fort.

I really wish I couldn't hear the angels tonight, now that I knew what they were, it made it seem so much more real.

 _We're running out of time…_

 _Find it Castiel…_

Yeah good luck with that you murdering sickos, I'll make sure you don't get your hands on me.

I watched the light coming from the garage outside bathe the yard in yellow light as I fell asleep.

...

My dreams weren't usually this vivid, although to be exact this felt more like a nightmare.

I was back at the bus station but I was watching on like a passerby, unable to stop the event from unfolding. A homless girl in the middle of the street started to glow, power radiating off her in waves. She let off a terrifying explosion of light, it felt so much more real standing here. Everyone collapsed around me and everything else went haywire, a thousand car alarms beeping on an off and lights shattering. I felt guilt deep within me, I did all of this…

Then I noticed something that wasn't there before, something out of place.

One man standing upright in the middle of the people, conveying the scene with interest. Then everything suddenly turned still, as if the dream were paused.

The man kept moving though, turning to look straight at me, his eyes… I remember them. He was the man from the park.

He looked at me as if he were looking past my skin into something more.

He opened his mouth and even though he was on the other side of the street I could hear him clearly, a deep voice echoing over and over again.

 _Find me..._


	9. Chapter 9: A life gone past

**Chapter 9: A life gone past**

I woke up in a cold sweat. That voice, when he talked to me… it was the same voice I heard warning me to run just before Ruby attacked me.

Was he helping me? how was I meant to find him?

It took me a long, confused minute to figure out where I was. I lay back down onto soft cushions, slowly trying to piece together my memories of the day before. By rights, I should be sleeping on a cold bench not waking up in unfamiliar clothes, in an unfamiliar house.

I needed to clear my head, too many words floating in my mind, all too confusing. I sat up and noticed it was still dark as my eyes adjusted, the sun hadn't risen yet. The only light I could see was coming from outside, the garage.

I knew I couldn't fall back asleep so I wrapped one of the blankets around me and stood up to walk around the room. I crept silently over the wooden floorboards, the still air smelt musty and dry. I needed fresh, morning air like was used to on the streets.

I thought back to Ellen's words, _don't leave the house_. But surely the front yard won't be swarming with black eyed demons. Jo had used a gun against them, I remembered, so I grabbed a similar looking one lying on the table and tucked it under the blanket. I crept to the back door, the cold air hit me like ice as soon as I stepped outside, it smelt like pine trees, I filled my lungs with it, grateful for something familiar.

The sky was a light navy colour just as the sun was rising over the trees, I could actually see the stars unlike in the city. They were beautiful and pale against the winter sky.

I heard muffled music coming from the garage, breaking the early morning silence. I walked over curiously, careful not to step on any discarded scrap metal with my bare feet.

It got louder as I walked towards it, I stepped towards to the rusty, steel door and peered in through a crack.

There was a man standing hunched over the front of a car, he had broad shoulders and his shirt was wet with sweat even though it was near snowing temperature outside. This must be Dean, I thought.

"You might as well stop lurking at the door missy, either come in or leave!" he shouted over the 70's rock music.

I jumped, how did he know I was there?

I creaked open the door slowly and he turned around to see me.

"So, you're our refugee? Esta they said?" he said in a gruff voice.

I couldn't get words out, he was intimidating, although most people seem intimidating from down here.

"Uh, yeah, I guess" I answered softly.

He was holding a beer and I noticed about six more littered around the place. His clothes, jeans and a Tee, were stained with oil and sweat.

He was tall with short brown hair and electric green eyes. He was handsome, especially with his tanned, freckled skin and pretty features.

He dropped the piece of machinery he was holding and sat on the dirty hood, "Couldn't sleep?" he asked me while turning off the music.

"Yeah, I needed some air" I walked over, my blanket dragging along the ground and I sat myself up on a bench, swinging my legs benath me.

He was staring at me oddly.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just you don't seem like all powerful angel hybrid" he took another swig of his beer.

"That's what I thought" I fiddled with a weird looking wrench before I looked back up.

"Why didn't you come to dinner, they all seemed to want you there" I asked.

"I wasn't hungry" he answered, using that excuse to hide something else.

"Right… so what are you doing here, did you used to be a hunter."

He stared off into nothing, like he was remembering another life. "I was, I still am, hunting's all I have left"

The gun i had hid slid slightly out of my blanket. "And being a hunter, I would know that unless that gun had rock salt bullets, It ain't gonna do much to demons" he added.

I tucked it back in hurriedly "so all powerful demons are killed by a condiment?" I asked while smiling slyly.

"Not killed, just hurt. But yeah, anything that can hurt those sonsofbitches is one of my favourite things." he smiled, even though it looked forced, like he was trying to remind himself on how to laugh.

I should ask, it had hung in the air uncomfortably since I got here.

"I have a feeling something really bad happened?" I was probably being really rude, but I wanted to get to the bottom of this. "To you, to them as well".

He looked up, his green eyes were filled with pain, so much that it blocked out anything else.

"I lost someone, we all did" he explained. His voice was filled with torment as he said it. "My um…" he stopped and looked down "my brother, we lost him".

"I'm so sorry" I said.

He was obviously very close with his brother, I notice a picture torn at the edges stuck up on a tool board with blu tac. It was of two boys, one was Dean, younger than he was now, wearing a brown leather jacket and the other boy, who was much taller than him, must have been his brother. He had shaggy, shoulder length, dark brown hair and a wide grin. He was just as handsome as his brother but in a different way.

They were both laughing at the camera with their arms around each other. I could barely recognize Dean now with so much sadness in his eyes.

He saw me looking, "His name was Sam".

"How… did he-"

"Die?" he finished. "he didn't, we just lost him…"

I studied him, and I could feel what he was feeling… maybe a bit too much.

I suddenly saw flashes of them when they were small children, standing in a field with a man who was teaching them how to shoot a gun, then another of them together, breaking down a door and rushing into a house where a man with fangs stood with blood dripping down his mouth.

This had happened before, if someone's emotions were powerful enough I could sometimes hear their thoughts, see their memories. His pain must have been enough that I could see his memories of his brother and Dean even didn't seem to notice.

It all happened in a split second, one moment I was sitting in the garage with the sun rising and the next I was looking at a vivid memory through Dean's perspective, it was so real, I could see what he saw, feel what he felt… I was thrust back into the past.


End file.
